El Burgo

El Burgo, where we are now, was actually our inspiration for planning an extended exploration of this area. We’ve been here twice before: the first time coming over the mountain pass at Lifa, riding our mountain bikes on the Ruta TransAndalus from Ronda to El Burgo in 2009; and the second time arriving via the Roman bridge from Carratraca on our 2013 Coast-to-Coast walk from Nerja to Tarifa. Both times, we loved the remoteness of the surrounding mountains, so we were delighted when a few years later, the area was declared a national park, the Sierra de Las Nieves.

We had plenty of time to explore the town today. There is a beautiful new walk that has been established along the Río Turón using the path of an old acequia that powered a mill at the bottom of the village. When I say old, I mean really old. In fact, it is referenced in paperwork of 1491 as being part of the spoils when the Muslims of El Burgo were defeated by the Christian forces of the Reconquest. Unfortunately, we could see only part of the walkway today because the part that overhangs the river was closed off for repairs.

That gave us more time to focus on the Roman bridge at the far end of town. Two men were working on repairs there, and we had a nice conversation about what the upkeep on an old bridge like that entails.

Interestingly, when first building the bridge, the Romans made use of cofferdams (cylinders inside which workers were protected from the river water). Inside the cofferdams, the workers built the pillars that would support the arch of the bridge. (This same technique was still being used more than a thousand years later to build the Brooklyn Bridge.)

This bridge connected the area with the Vía Augusta and can still be used to cross the Turón River to reach Malaga. In fact, we will cross it just as the Roman Army, patricians, plebeians, and slaves did thousands of years ago to reach the rest of Baetica (Andalusia).

As I write this, I can hear the church bells ringing 8 pm in the tower at the end of our block. This church was built to accommodate the elderly who found it hard to climb to the church at the top of town. We are wondering if the bells will be ringing every hour through the night.

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